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Media stocks surge after Aereo ruling

The Supreme Court's ruling against Aereo was a triumph for the country's broadcasters, and now media stocks are doing a victory dance.

Shares of CBS Corporation(CBS), Disney,(DIS)Comcast(CMCSA), and Twenty-first Century Fox(FOX) jumped Wednesday after the Supreme Court ruled that streaming service Aereo violates broadcasters rights by using tiny antennas to snatch up content on public airwaves.

CBS, whose outspoken CEO Les Moonves had publicly predicted that the nation's highest court would side with the broadcasters, got the biggest boost, bouncing as much as 8% after the ruling before pulling back to a roughly 5% gain.

James Dix, a media stocks analyst with Wedbush Securities, said CBS had the biggest stake in the Aereo outcome because it derives much of its revenue from television advertising and retransmission fees.

All three companies have local ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliate stations, among others, in their portfolios. Dix claimed these stocks have the most to gain from the Supreme Court's decision, since Aereo was a direct threat to their business model of redistributing broadcast content.

Still, the surge in media stocks was a bit surprising, since many analysts had expected the Supreme Court to side with the broadcasters.